


To Err is Human, To Forgive . . .

by enid_salt



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, I Believe in Jasper Sitwell, Winter Solider spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2014-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-20 17:43:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1519574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enid_salt/pseuds/enid_salt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's more than one loose end Fury doesn't have the heart to tie up. (Unbeta'd, 450 words)</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Err is Human, To Forgive . . .

It’s the first dead end he hits.

But in all honestly, Nick Fury knows it won’t be the last - he’s playing the long con, just like HYDRA did all these years.

Still, after pretty going through all the people who witnessed the scramble after the Triskelion fell he’s got nothing more than ghost stories - more than a few about one ghost in particular that he’ll pass onto Rogers later.

Yet when the nurse closest to him in the hospital hallway mentions a coma case from the causeway attack and he can’t help but check in on a hunch.

He’s greeted by an unconscious Jasper Sitwell in the bed.

Nick is pretty much healed but he feels winded and slumps into the visitor's chair at the foot of the bed.

“I’m sorry.”

And he is. For letting himself be blinded by old loyalties. For letting this mess slip through his fingers out into the world. For telling Jasper he could make or break this case and it was his civic duty to help. 

Like Sitwell wouldn’t have done anything Fury asked of him.

He’s sorry this was the inevitable end. A SHIELD agent posing as a HYDRA agent posing as a SHIELD agent. He might as well have put the hit on Jasper himself.

His skin’s been hardened enough to not be wounded from the backlash that comes with when you’re chasing the bad guys out of the shadows and into the light. But he’s human at heart and he remembers hearing all the hype and picking this kid out of the lineup and setting him up under Phil Coulson - the fast track to greatness as it used to be known.

He remembers what his missteps did to Coulson, too. There’s a whole ‘nother story there. About picking up the punk with an “ironic” Captain America shirt, juvenile rap sheet, and goddamn earring in one ear and convincing him to serve the greater good. Betraying his one promise - that’d he respect when Coulson clocked out.

Maybe it’s just history repeating itself: he was that young kid with a fire in his heart that Alexander Pierce saw - well, just what did Alexander Pierce see in him? If he had to guess, he’d put his money on ruthlessness. Ended up proving the guy right, didn’t he. 

There’s still a whole world out there that he hasn’t disappointed yet, so he gets back up and walks out.

Because he can’t waste away time worrying about his past.

He can’t stay for the moment Jasper Sitwell wakes up.

If there’s one thing he doesn’t deserve, something also unavoidable, it would be hearing Jasper say those three words.

“I forgive you.”


End file.
